Re-evaluate communes meeting new rural standards if debt is not paid off after 3 years

(Baonghean.vn) - This is the proposal of Mr. Hoang Nghia Hieu - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, delegate of Hung Nguyen district in the discussion session at the hall on the morning of December 15 of the third session of the 17th Provincial People's Council.

» Need to resolve outstanding debt in basic construction and new rural areas

» Need to aim for sustainability in new rural construction

Delegate Hoang Nghia Hieu proposed that after 3 years of achieving NTM standards, communes that do not pay off all debts will have to be re-evaluated and the responsibility will be assigned to the head of the local government.

According to Mr. Hieu, building new rural areas (NTM) is a major policy of the Party and State, which is supported by the people and contributes to changing the face of the countryside. However, in the process of implementation, there are shortcomings that need to be overcome.

Answering the question of whether the figure of 751 billion VND of outstanding NTM debt in Nghe An is correct or not, the head of the agricultural sector said that this is the data that the units have reviewed, reported, and transferred to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Finance for synthesis and re-checking.

"Of this 751 billion, if divided equally among the total number of communes, each commune owes 1.7 billion, and with 448 billion of 112 communes that have met the NTM standards as of 2015, each commune owes 4.3 billion" - the delegate said and hoped the Provincial People's Council would share, with the reason "if you do something, you have to owe".

Based on the statistics nationwide, on average each commune bears a debt of 6.2 billion VND for the New Rural Development Program. Mr. Hieu affirmed: "Nghe An is a province with debt, but that is a number that we can control and pay off in the near future."

Building new rural roads in Nghi Trung commune (Nghi Loc).

Regarding the solution to overcome the problem of NTM debt, the Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reiterated the province's guiding viewpoint in building NTM, which is not to chase after achievements, not to focus all resources on building transport and irrigation infrastructure. "There may not be many communes meeting the standards, but the criteria must be raised, and economic criteria can be focused on to improve people's lives..." - this delegate clearly stated.

In addition, according to Mr. Hoang Nghia Hieu, another way to handle the current problem is that with 751 billion in outstanding debt, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinates with the Department of Finance and localities to "clearly divide" which capital sources are supported by the Central Government, which capital sources are from the province, district, and commune, from there assigning a policy of saving budget spending to have a debt repayment plan.

"We are recommending that after 3 years of achieving NTM standards, communes that do not pay off all their debts will have to be re-evaluated and the responsibility will be assigned to the head of the local government," said Mr. Hieu.

PV Group

Readers can send their comments to the 3rd Session of the 17th Provincial People's Council.

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